BP Says Oil Has Stopped

BP Says Oil Has Stopped

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This still image from a live BP video feed shows a well integrity test on oil leaking in the Gulf of Mexico. Energy giant BP on Thursday stopped oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since April as it shut all valves on a new cap placed on top of a fractured wellhead, a BP official said. (AFP/BP)

BP engineers on Thursday stopped oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since April as they shut all valves on a new cap placed on top of a fractured wellhead, a BP official said.

"It is good to see no oil going into the Gulf of Mexico," said senior vice-president Kent Wells, but he cautioned: "We are just starting the test."

He said the oil flow stopped as the last of three valves on a huge capping stack was shut at around 2.25pm on Thursday (0525 AEST Friday), but engineers were keeping a close eye on the operation to see whether any oil began leaking again.

It was the biggest step forward in halting the worst oil spill in US history which has been flowing into the sea since an explosion sank a BP-leased rig on April 22, two days after a major explosion on the deepwater drilling platform.

"I'm very excited to see no oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico," Wells added.

Further

With the toxic Bibi circus in town - cue talk of "tentacles of terror" - find hope in the extraordinary Combatants For Peace, a joint effort by weary Israeli and Palestinian veterans of violence who've laid down their guns to fight for peace. Led by a former IDF soldier and Fatah militant who both lost daughters to the conflict's "unrightable wrongs," they insist on the need to "hear what is painful" and talk to your 'enemies': "Partners for peace always exist. You only have to look for them."